I am looking for opinions as to a reasonable value on a lightly used Craftsman 21400 band saw. Any thoughts or experiences with this model as well. It’s been many years since I’ve done any type of woodwork and is something I would like to get back into, but am (almost) starting from scratch tool-wise, so any help or advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

17 replies so far

I bought the same band saw – new – returned it the next day. JUNK ! Went to Lowes and got the 14” Porter Cable. Runs like a sewing machine. Put a 4” riser block on it, and it still runs like a sewing machine ! Have never had any trouble with it.

-- *Arachnoleptic Fit*: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidently walked through a spider web.

The 21400 is the smaller of the 3 Cman bandsaws presumed to be made by Richen Enterprises who owns Rikon. It was generally pretty well regarded as small bandsaws go. They sold as low as the $100 range, and as high as the $190 range, so 50% of that range is a reasonable starting place.

I’ve got the 12” version, and have been pretty happy with it.

-- Happiness is like wetting your pants...everyone can see it, but only you can feel the warmth....

IMHO, it appears to be a good little BS. i pucrchased and sold 2 of it’s 14” sears big brothers (22401, i think) and presently own a rikon 10-340. if it’s anyhting like the 22401 or my 10-340, buy it. i got one as part of a machinery donation for a friend and i wish i had one like it in place of a similar sized delta.

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.

I own it and like it. It’s not a giant re-saw machine and if you expect to use it that way you’ll be disappointed. It was affordable, even more so when on sale, works well on small/medium sized projects, doesn’t take up a ton of space and was pretty easy to setup. The blade that came with it wasn’t anything spectacular…it cut. Buy a good blade and don’t look back.

If you do pick it up, do a Google search for “Tuning the Craftsman 10” Band Saw”; there’s a blog by someone called “woodscrub” who does a great job filling in the blanks where the manual leaves off and highlighting some points to tweak to improve performance of the saw. I’d post the link, but I’m not having any luck on my office PC today.

My only real gripe is the lack of a tension release lever, but, this is a $100 saw so I’m not too broken up about it. I used a silver sharpie to stripe the tension knob so that I could have a point of reference for tensioning/un-tensioning the blade….set the tension, make your cuts, back the knob off 1.5 turns…no worries.

The gentleman who presently owns the saw (which I’ve not yet seen) claims its only been used a few times, comes with an extra blade, and wants $100 (likely firm). While not a lot of money, I am just not sure if saving the $85 from buying new is worth it. To be honest, after seeing what some lesser-looking saws sell for on craigslist, it’s almost tempting to take that route. I’ve no problem paying a reasonable amount for a quality saw, but was unsure if this model could be considered one.

From what KnotScott and OldMarine said, I suppose the price is somewhat in the higher end of the spectrum, but not unreasonable. Thanks again to all.

Tedstor & BillWhite: Just for the sake of clarity, may I ask what you mean by “outgrow”? I assume you mean because of its size and capabilities? At least for the time being, I cannot see myself doing any type of sizable project, but I do understand your points.

Only one trunnion, and the table wobbles without two, and is difficult to keep in alignment. That’s the reason I primarly called it junk. It’s probably a good little light weight saw for doing small work, even if the table needs occasional tuning. I needed something heavier.

-- *Arachnoleptic Fit*: The frantic dance performed just after you've accidently walked through a spider web.

I again want to sincerely thank everyone for sharing their thoughts and opinions with me – both good and bad. In the end, the gentleman agreed to a lower price, and since the saw is as new, I decided to buy. It also came with three extra blades and hopefully at this price, if I decide to upgrade, any loss should be minimal… I hope :)

The help given me here is greatly appreciated, and as my tool buying progresses, it’s good to know where to turn for advice.

A special thanks to A10GAC for the links… they could come in quite handy!

even if you move up to a larger saw, it will be good to have something smaller like that around. even though i have a rikon 10-340 (18”) BS, i also have a 9” delta for those small things requiring a small blade when i don’t want out chnage out the blade on the 18” saw. congrats on a good purchase.

-- there's a solution to every problem.......you just have to be willing to find it.